Peace Parks Foundation

Peace Parks Foundation

"On 27 May 1990, Anton Rupert, President of WWF South Africa (then called the Southern African Nature Foundation) had a meeting in Maputo with Mozambique's President Joaquim Chissano, to discuss the possibility of establishing a permanent link between some of the protected areas in southern Mozambique and their adjacent counterparts in South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

"The concept of trans-border protected area cooperation through the establishment of peace parks had already been accepted internationally. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) had long been promoting their establishment because of the many associated benefits (Hamilton et al, 1996; Westing, 1993). In 1988, the IUCN's Commission on National Parks and Protected Areas had identified at least 70 protected areas in 65 countries which straddle national frontiers (Thorsell, 1990).

"As a result of Rupert's meeting, WWF South Africa was requested to carry out a feasibility study, which was completed and submitted to the Government of Mozambique in September 1991 (Tinley & van Riet, 1991). The report was discussed by the Mozambican Council of Ministers, who recommended further studies to assess fully the political, socio-economic and ecological aspects of the feasibility study. The Government of Mozambique then requested the Global Environment Facility (GEF) of The World Bank to provide assistance for the project, which was granted. The first mission was fielded in 1991, and in June 1996 The World Bank released its recommendation in a report entitled Mozambique : Transfrontier Conservation Areas Pilot and Institutional Strengthening Project (World Bank, 1996)."

In a critical examination of Southern African Peace Parks, Marloes van Amerom and Bram Buscher (2005) observe that:


 * "The widespread popularity of the concept of Peace Parks has attracted a wide range of donor agencies (such as the World Bank, USAID and the German KfW – Kredietanstallt fur Wiederaufbau), NGOs and private sector interests. Even the United States Congress recently officially approved of the concept. However, reflecting Africa’s weak position in the international system (Clapham 1996) the funding provided by Western donors such as the World Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has also meant that pressure was applied for the concept of Peace Parks to be operationalised on the basis of dominant Western economic paradigms that, like the dominant ‘globalist’ interpretation of African Renaissance, reflect the neo-liberal outlook of the Washington consensus. Thus, privatisation, free trade, private land ownership and the commercialisation of conservation have increasingly become important cornerstones of Peace Parks. Moreover, as is so often the case, the practice of Peace Parks increasingly contrasts with its rhetoric." (p.168)

Unfortunately they go on to note that:


 * "Altogether, this evidence supports the conclusion, also drawn by Dzingirai (2004), that, rather than democratisation and decentralisation, Peace Parks seem to promote greater inequality between governments and communities or ‘disenfranchisement

at large’." (p.175)


 * Peace Parks Foundation: Funding

"Mr Werner Myburgh has been appointed as the new CEO of Peace Parks Foundation, as of 1 April 2008. He takes over from Prof Willem van Riet, who retires as CEO but has been appointed as Vice-Chairman: International Relations responsible for fundraising and providing support to specialist projects such as GIS and park planning."

Conservation Partners
Accessed June 2009:


 * Namibian Ministry of the Environment and Tourism, NAMDEB, Local community landowners (Eksteenfontein, Kuboes, Lekkersing, Sanddrift), South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South African National Parks, AWARE Trust, Northern Cape Nature Conservation, Gariep Spatial Development Initiative, Diamond mining companies (Transhex Mining Company, Global Diamond Reserves and Oenas Mine - privately owned), Alexcor, Conservation International, Eco-Africa Environmental Consultants, GTZ (TRANSFORM) Project, World Bank , WWF-South Africa, Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Local communities adjacent to KTP, USAID RCSA, Local Communities (adjacent and within Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park), South African San Institute, Northern Province Environmental Affairs, Department of National Parks and Wild Life Management, Zimbabwe, Beitbridge Rural District Council, Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Botswana, Endangered Wildlife Trust, NORAD, CESVI, Northern Tuli Game Reserve Landowners Association, Mawana Nature Reserve, National Parks Trust, Vhembe Game Reserve, De Beers Consolidated Mines, Limpopo Valley Game Reserve, Department of National Parks and Wild Life Management (Tuli Circle Safari Area), CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources), Private landowners (Nottingham Estate and Sentinel Ranch)

Donors
Accessed June 2009:

Current Donors


 * Alexander Forbes Community Trust, Anglo American Chairman's Fund, Dutch Postcode Lottery, Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Embassy of Finland Local Cooperation Fund, Fondation Harafi, KfW, Principality of Monaco, Louis A Nielsen, South African Breweries, Swedish Postcode Foundation, Mitsubishi Corporation Fund for Europe and Africa, Turner Foundation, Tusk Trust, Walton Family Foundation, WWF Netherlands

DONATIONS


 * Sander Bakker, Magalen O. Bryant, Bryant Crane Charitable Fund, Magriet Burger, Dutch Postcode Lottery, Estate of the late Kate Isabella Sanderson, ExxonMobil, Goldman Sachs & Co, Rupert Nature Foundation, JJM van Zyl, Nathaly Wagner

'DONATIONS-IN-KIND''


 * Africa Imagery, Asher House, AVIS, Heinrich van den Berg, CODEX dds, Mercedes-Benz South Africa, Distell (including Amarula), ESRI , Homebrew Films , Internet Solutions , Koos van der Lende Photography , Marais Muller Yekiso Attorneys at Law , Remgro , Venfin , Virgin Atlantic , Tony Weaver, Toyota

People (2009)
Accessed June 2009:


 * Werner Myburgh
 * Jakes Gerwel
 * Willem van Riet
 * Sedia Modise
 * Karl Aribeb
 * Lackson Mwenya
 * Wisdom Dlamini
 * Humphrey Nzima
 * Johan Verhoef
 * Gideon Groenewald

Founding Patrons

 * HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands † 1 December 2004
 * Nelson Mandela
 * Anton Rupert

Directors

 * JP Rupert (Chairman)
 * GJ Gerwel (Vice-Chairman)
 * WF van Riet (Chief Executive Officer)
 * LN Angel
 * HL Hoffmann (Switzerland)
 * HM Holz (Germany)
 * JHW Loudon (The Netherlands)
 * MD Mabunda
 * M Msimang
 * FE Raimondo
 * PE Schlettwein (Switzerland)
 * DF Strietman (The Netherlands)
 * JJM van Zyl
 * PJ van Zyl

Club 21 Members

 * Chairman: Johann Rupert
 * HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands † 1 December 2004
 * Absa Bank
 * Richard Branson
 * Cartier
 * DaimlerChrysler
 * DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund
 * De Beers
 * Deutsche Bank
 * Paul Fentener van Vlissingen
 * Donald Gordon Foundation
 * HL Hoffmann
 * Kumba Resources
 * Novamedia/Dutch National Postcode Lottery
 * Philips
 * Remgro
 * Richemont
 * De Rothschild Foundation
 * Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation
 * Rupert Family Foundation
 * Stiftung P Schlettwein Publishing
 * Ted Turner Foundation
 * Total
 * Venfin
 * Vodafone Group Foundation
 * WWF Netherlands
 * Club 21 also serves as an advisory council to the Foundation.

Honorary Patrons

 * Jose Eduardo dos Santos (Angola)
 * Armando Emilio Guebuza (Mozambique)
 * King Letsie III (Lesotho)
 * Thabo Mbeki (South Africa)
 * Festus Mogae (Botswana)
 * King Mswati III (Swaziland)
 * Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)
 * Levy Mwanawasa (Zambia)
 * Bingu wa Mutharika (Malawi)
 * Hifikepunye Pohamba (Namibia)

Advisory Committee

 * Ezekiel Dembe - Director, Planning and Projects Development: Tanzania National Parks
 * David Mabunda - Chief Executive: South African National Parks (SANParks)
 * Rapelang Majophoko - Director: Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Botswana
 * Khulani Mkhize - Chief Executive Officer: Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, South Africa
 * Morris Mtsambiwa - Director-General: Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Zimbabwe
 * Lewis Saiwana - Director: Zambia Wildlife Authority
 * Leonard Sefu - Director: Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Malawi
 * Emmanuel Severre - Director: Wildlife Division, Tanzania
 * Bartolomeu Soto - Director: Directorate of National Conservation Areas, Mozambique
 * Jameson Vilakati - Director: Swaziland Environment Authority
 * Pam Yako - Director-General: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, South Africa

Contact

 * Web: http://www.peaceparks.org

Related Publications

 * Annon, "Conservation by Dispossession in Ethiopia", Guerilla News Network, September 13, 2007.
 * Carruthers, J. (1997). Nationhood and national parks: comparative examples from the post-imperial experience. In T. Griffiths & L. Robin (Eds.), Ecology and empire: environmental history of settler societies. Pietermartizburg: University of Natal Press.
 * Dzingirai, V. 2004. Disenfranchisement at Large: transfrontier zones, conservation and local livelihoods. Harare: IUCN ROSA.
 * Gibson, C. C. 1999. Politicians and Poachers: the political economy of wildlife policy in Africa. Cambridge University Press.
 * Goldman, M. (ed) (1998) Privatizing Nature: Political Struggles for the Global Commons. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick.
 * Jaidev Singh & Henk van Houtum, "Post-colonial nature conservation in Southern Africa: same emperors, new clothes?", GeoJournal 58: 253–263, 2002.
 * John MacKenrie, The Empire of Nature: Hunting, Conservntiorz and British Imperialism, Manchester and New York, 1988.

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * John Hanks
 * African Conservation Trust
 * African Parks Foundation
 * Boetie van Zyl
 * Noel N. de Villiers - founding member